REUTERS - Indian shares swung between gains and losses on Thursday, tracking muted regional stock markets, as concerns over the global central banks' ability to stimulate growth continued to hurt risk-appetite.
Perceived limits to the extensive monetary easings led by major central banks such as the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan have soured broader risk sentiment.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged down 0.1 percent with Japan's Nikkei falling more than 1 percent to a three-week low.
Sentiment back home was also frail as investors took a breather after indexes hit 18-month high last week, helped by overseas inflows.
Foreign investors have been buying into Indian shares as part of a shift to higher-yielding emerging markets, bringing the total net investments to $6.31 billion so far this year.
"What we are seeing now is some amount of consolidation and a slightly range-bound market which should continue through the next trading session, on the back of uncertainties surrounding major central banks' moves," said Gaurang Shah, vice president, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.
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At 0551 GMT, the broader NSE Nifty was down 0.04 percent at 8,722.75. It rose as much as 0.26 percent earlier in the session.
The benchmark BSE Sensex declined 0.02 percent at 28,365.38. The index gained as much as 0.21 percent earlier in the day.
Bank stocks were the biggest drag on the indexes, with the Nifty Bank Index declining as much as 0.74 percent after gaining 0.60 percent in the previous session.
State Bank of India fell 0.9 percent, ICICI Bank declined 0.6 percent, while Axis Bank lost 2.1 percent.
Reliance Communications Ltd gained as much as 3.6 percent in early trading before shedding up to 1.5 percent. The company said on Wednesday that it would combine its wireless business with smaller rival Aircel.
Analysts at HSBC said they believe that the overall integration may be "tricky" as the companies would need to decide on issues related to branding.
"The primary focus of the merged entity is likely to be debt reduction and this may raise concerns on their ability to retain subscribers," the analysts said.
Among the gainers, state-run trading firm MMTC Ltd rose as much as 7.5 percent to its highest since July 14, after its June-quarter loss narrowed.
(Reporting by Samantha Kareen Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)
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